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Show The Right Of Opposition Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt told the United Nations that Russia and the United States have little hope of living "together "to-gether without friction in the same world" unless both can concede the right of opposition. Mrs. Roosevelt challenged the apparent definition of democracy democ-racy by the Soviet leaders as' "synonomous with Soviet" and the use of the Fascist label to apply to anyone not conforming conform-ing to the Soviet idea. Many Americans have expressed ex-pressed the same viewpoint but apparently without much impression im-pression upon the delegates from the Soviet Union. In this connection, the representatives of fifty nations had an excellent excel-lent opportunity to observe our democratic process by their presence in this country on the day of our national elections. Of course, the Russians do not understand a fair and free election, or the readiness with which the American people accept ac-cept the verdict at the polls. This is not explicable in view of the history of Russia, where most of the people have grown up under a regime which outlaws out-laws all opposition. Even the older Russians, who lived under un-der the ruin of the Czar, have no experience whatever in the line of democratic self-govern ment. It is probably too early to predict that the Soviet dictatorship, dictator-ship, with its insistence upon "democracy" and its belief that a small group of rulers can legislate for the good of the people, will develop into a democratic country. Certainly, if infomation is permitted to percolate throughout Russia and if education becomes more general, gen-eral, there is a distinct ' hope that, in the course of years, the Russian people will insist upon popular self-government as it : -;ra"'.!?eri in this country. |